Japan attacked the media in all directions just after the beginning of the year: recruiting implied China

These major actions involving politics, economy, diplomacy, military and other fields seem to be considered for their own development, but in the eyes of analysts, China is one of the hidden goals.

At the beginning of the new year, Japanese enterprises have been playing trumpets in Africa, which has been quite valued in recent years.

Japan Economic News reported on January 10 that Toyota Commerce and the International Cooperation Bank of Japan will participate in port development in Angola, an African country.

_Namibe Port in Angola (Angolan National News Agency) to be built by Japanese Enterprises

Japan will provide up to 70 billion yen (about 4.4 billion yuan) in the so-called largest port development project for Japanese enterprises in Africa.

Interestingly, it seems to be a bilateral cooperation project, but the report writes that China has been actively promoting infrastructure development in Africa and debt trap.

On the 8th of this month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks with Rwandan President Kagame in Tokyo. Kyodo News Agency reported that the two sides confirmed the successful cooperation of the 7th African Development Conference (TICAD) in Yokohama in August. According to the analysis, Japan intends to strengthen its relations with African countries.

As soon as Kagame left, Abe rushed to Britain without stopping.

According to Kyodo News Agency on January 11, after Abes talks with Teresa May, Japan and Britain reached an agreement on building a new economic agreement after leaving Europe. At the same time, it stressed that the two countries will continue to promote cooperation in the field of security, and said that this spring in Tokyo, foreign ministers and defense ministers will hold consultations (2 + 2).

_On January 10, British Prime Minister Teresa May met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in London. The two held a joint press conference. (Visual China)

It is worth noting that public opinion has agreed that the military cooperation between Japan and Britain, especially in the Indian-Pacific direction, is directed at China.

In addition, Japans growing influence in South Asia has also attracted widespread attention.

Japan has established strong ties with India and is strengthening contacts with Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, according to an article published on the website of American diplomats on January 11.

To put it bluntly, Japan is expanding its influence in South Asia in order to fight against China.

According to the analysis, due to the growing economic and military strength of Asian countries, the Indian Ocean-Pacific region is becoming more and more important, and China is in the leading position. Japan has noticed this and is making slow but firm efforts to ensure that its strategic presence and great power status in South Asia are consolidated.

This shows that in recent years, Japan has been quite active in the international arena, whether it is building groups or expanding groups.

According to Zhang Xiaolei, an associate researcher at the Japan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, this shows that the proportion and capacity of Japans regional cooperation and international coordination policies in its foreign strategy are increasing. The essence of this is that Japans Strategic Autonomy is expanding and its consciousness is increasing.

Zhang Xiaolei pointed out that there are two factors behind this change: internal and external factors.

In terms of external factors, first of all, Japan has further deepened its doubts about US security commitments due to the impact of unilateralism foreign policy since the Trump Administration came into power. Secondly, Japan has decided to speed up its adjustment of its foreign policy in view of the destructive effect of the international free trade system on which the United States relies. At the same time, American policy also provides Japan with the strategic space to expand its independent diplomacy.

Information Picture: On November 30, 2018, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the first day of the G-20 Leaderssummit, Trump held bilateral meetings with Abe Jinsan. (Visual China)

In terms of internal factors, this change can be seen as the long-term accumulation of Japans concept and practice of Strategic Autonomy in foreign policy after World War II. Abe mentioned recently that the post-war diplomatic final accounts should be achieved. The accumulation over the years after the war has provided a certain strategic and practical basis for Japan to achieve the final accounts. The ultra-long-term cabinet of Abe also intends to strengthen regional cooperation and international coordination to achieve Japans goal of becoming a political power in the future.

However, Japan has never forgotten China in the process of its foreign strategic expansion. As quoted in the previous reports of many foreign media, there is a strong sense of rivalry between Japan and China.

Another news released on the website of Japan Economic News on the 10th confirms this phenomenon.

Reported that Japan will lend its eyesight to the Five-Eye Alliance. An important reason for Japans inclusion is that it has some doubts about Chinas military power and its rapid growth in the data field.

In fact, since last year, Sino-Japanese relations have stepped out of the trough, and exchanges and cooperation in various fields are also resuming. But what is Japans intention to target China everywhere at this time?

Zhang Xiaolei believes that China should take a dialectical view of Japans recent actions.

On the one hand, Japans attitudes and concepts in the multilateral trading system have maintained a high degree of consistency with China, as evidenced by the acceleration of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP). At the same time, China and Japan are also strengthening cooperation in third-party markets, indicating that China and Japan have the potential and space to expand common interests.

On the other hand, facing the situation of competition between China and Japan, China should also note that Japan not only tries to strengthen international coordination in security, but also continuously strengthens security cooperation on the basis of Japan-US alliance. For example, the outline of the new defense plan recently issued, some of which involve plans and policies with the intention of countering China.

Zhang Xiaolei stressed that in the new year, for Sino-Japanese relations, two issues are crucial: whether the two countries can deepen and solidify their economic and trade cooperation; and whether they can get rid of the trap in terms of security. The two sides need to enhance mutual trust and achieve constructive interaction in the field of security through the institutionalization of many security confidence measures. Zhang Xiaolei said. Source: Responsible Editor of Reference Message Network: Ji Guojie_NBJ11143

Zhang Xiaolei stressed that in the new year, for Sino-Japanese relations, two issues are crucial: whether the two countries can deepen and solidify their economic and trade cooperation; and whether they can get rid of the trap in terms of security.

The two sides need to enhance mutual trust and achieve constructive interaction in the field of security through the institutionalization of many security confidence measures. Zhang Xiaolei said.